by Kyle Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

by Kyle Tucker, USA TODAY Sports

Less than 48 hours after his car flipped several times and he was ejected, landing 100 feet from the vehicle, Kentucky football player Ashely Lowery's breathing tube and neck brace were removed, his sedation was lifted and he sat up in a hospital bed and spoke to friends and relatives. Doug Stutsman, a close friend and family spokesman, said Lowery does not have internal or brain injuries and no broken bones.

"Just a ton of scrapes all over his body. Some of them are pretty bad cuts, pretty deep, but they think right now he came out of it pretty clean," said Stutsman, who is sports editor at the local White County News in Cleveland, Ga., Lowery's hometown. "I think miracle is the right word. There's really no other word to describe it. His brother said it just looks like he was in a bicycle accident. After seeing the car, if you told me he was alive â?? even if he was paralyzed â?? I would've said he's lucky.

"Not only is he alive, but he's going to be fine sooner than later. It's unbelievable."

Lowery, who is back home now that UK's spring semester is over, crashed around 4 a.m. Saturday and had been sedated in intensive care at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Doctors removed his breathing tube and woke him Sunday morning. He was groggy, but when a family friend asked him how he was doing, Lowery offered a familiar response that let everyone know he was still the quick-witted jokester they remembered.

"He was so out of it, still on his medication, but all he said was, 'Am I still pretty?' " Stutsman said. "Everyone got a big laugh out of that. If you know Ashely, that just sums everything up."

Former UK assistant Greg Nord, Lowery's primary recruiter for the Wildcats, wasn't surprised to hear his first words.

"That's probably why we got along so well, because we both liked to laugh a lot," Nord said. "This is great news. There's been a lot of prayers answered here. I'm very thankful things have turned for the better and I hope he can continue on and reach all his goals."

Lowery, a junior who started eight games for UK at safety last season, was able to identify all of his visitors by name Sunday and correctly answered a series of questions from doctors to demonstrate his brain was functioning properly. He was able to move his arms and legs, sit up in bed and drink through a straw, Stutsman said. The plan was to keep Lowery in the ICU one more night and move him to a regular hospital room in the morning. Doctors want to get him out of bed and walking soon.

Stutsman said they believe Lowery's life might have been saved â?? in an unusual twist â?? by the fact that he was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected. The 2006 Nissan Altima he was driving is now a tangled ball of metal. Stutsman said Lowery hasn't talked about how the crash happened and doctors want to wait until he's further recovered to rehash that traumatic event.

"We're just so happy he's here," Stutsman said. "He's doing a heckuva lot better than we all thought he'd be."

Former UK safety Mikie Benton said Lowery's past and present teammates have been worried sick about him, messaging each other the last two days for updates and praying that he would pull through. Benton said he was attending a friend's graduation ceremony Sunday morning when he learned via Twitter that Lowery was awake and responsive.

"It was extremely stressful. To hear that he's still that same person, it made me feel a million times better," Benton said. "When Ashely came in as a freshman, he's a person that pushed me â?? not only for the starting safety spot, but to be a winner. He's a guy that just wants to win. He's a great person to be around, one that the older players all tried to bring him along and teach him everything we knew. Ashely was one we all got close to. We're so glad he's OK."

Kyle Tucker also writes for the Courier-Journal of Louisville, a Gannett company. He is on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ